Everyone has heard of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but did you know that there was a Robot Hall of Fame? Founded in 2003 at Carnegie Mellon University, the Robot Hall of Fame was created to recognize landmark achievements in robotics technology and to create a broader awareness of the contributions that robots and robotics make to science and society. Now for the first time, the public is being asked to vote on which robots they’d like to see inducted, and our favorite junk-recycling robot Wall-E has been nominated!

The robots are divided into four categories: education and consumer, entertainment, industry & service, and research. The final decision is based 50% on the public vote and 50% on a “survey of experts.” Previous inductees include: Sony’s Aibo, Lego Mindstorms, and iRobot’s Roomba. Here are the nominees for 2012.

Among them are a few familiar faces that we have covered here at Inhabitat. In the research category is Robonaut, a dexterous humanoid robot built and designed at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. It was built to work alongside people in order to expand our ability for construction and discovery.

In the same category is BigDog, designed by lead robotic firm Boston Dynamics. This monstrous quadruped robot is capable of traversing difficult terrain, while running at 4 mph and carrying 340 lbs. It can also climb a 35 degree incline.

Meanwhile in the entertainment category is everyone’s favorite Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth class – WALL-E! The recycling bot is up against Rosie The Robot and Johnny 5, although he gets our vote for his contribution to saving the planet. You can place your vote here until September 30, 2012.